As of January 1, 2018, the ownership of Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI) transitioned to Janet and Donn Grenda. Janet will serve as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company and Donn will continue in his role as President. Janet and Donn have been a part of SRI for nearly three decades in leadership roles and the transition has been in the works for some time.

SRI was founded by Debbie and Jeff Altschul 35 years ago as a vehicle for creative people to conduct interesting and exciting studies on the human condition. In a note to staff and colleagues about this transition, Debbie and Jeff wrote that this “… mission statement … has been lived by countless people who have joined us on this journey. And what a journey it has been. Camel caravans in the Gobi Desert, swidden farms in West Africa, haciendas in Mexico, geoglyphs in the Papaguería, the Spruce Goose Hanger in Los Angeles, and on and on. But even more remarkable than the places we have been and the projects we have done are the people we have met along the way. You are the eyes and ears that have led us, the hearts and souls of the moral compass that guided us, and the foot soldiers of the public good we have done.”

Janet and Donn look forward to continuing the tradition of serving our clients’ needs through our mission and meeting our nation’s challenge to preserve our collective heritage for future generations. Janet and Donn are excited to work with all of their wonderful colleagues at SRI and the larger heritage preservation community and stakeholders in the decades to come.

Statistical Research, Inc., will be at the 2018 Tucson Festival of Books, now the third-largest book fair in the nation. Visit us to purchase books (we will have fire sale titles and festival discounts). We will also be hosting hands-on activities to teach the public about archaeology as part of our booth display.

We hope to see you there!

2018 Archaeology Field School, Coconino National Forest, Arizona

Taking place near Flagstaff, AZ and operated by Statistical Research, Inc. in association with the Institute for Field Research and the Coconino National Forest (http://ifrglobal.org/program/us-coconino/), this field school will prepare students for a career in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) while conducting a typical small-scale CRM inventory and evaluation project. The area has been home to people for many millennia and has a rich archaeological record that extends from the Paleoindian period (13,000-9,000 BCE) to the Historic period. The region is best known, however, as the homeland of the Nothern Sinagua. In addition to CRM training, our research goals are to identify and evaluate prehistoric and historical period resources that can contribute important information regarding past land use and settlement patterns in this area. The field school will run from July 8 to August 4, 2018

SRI’s field school has recently been certified for the 2018 field season by the Registry of Professional Archaeologists (RPA), which has strict standards for certification. For more about RPA field school certification, see http://rpanet.org/?FieldschoolGuides .

Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI), is pleased to announce the publication of the five-volume series, People in a Changing Land: The Archaeology and History of the Ballona in Los Angeles, California.

Volume 1: Paleoenvironment and Culture History

Volume 2: Archaeological Sites and Chronology

Volume 3: Material Culture and Subsistence Practices

Volume 4: Bioarchaeology and Paleodemography

Volume 5: Gabrielino/Tongva Origins and Development: A View from Guaspet

With the publication of these peer-reviewed final reports, the Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project (PVAHP), first begun in 1991, is now complete. The fundamental objective of the PVAHP was to understand how humans adapted to a dynamic wetlands environment in southern California over the course of 8,500 years of human occupation and use. To do so, SRI conducted numerous studies involving scores of scholars. Like so many big projects, PVAHP had many twists and turns and more than a few dead ends. Among its many accomplishments are:

A detailed reconstruction of the Holocene history of the Ballona wetlands and surrounding region

A thorough documentation of the Ballona’s archaeological record, including excavation and analysis of more than a dozen sites in the wetlands and surrounding region

An extensive study of the ethnohistory of the region, focusing on the rancheria of Guaspet

The excavation, study, repatriation, and reburial of 374 burial features associated with the prehistoric and ethnohistoric occupation and use of CA-LAN-62

We invite you to learn more about this fascinating part of the world, hidden right under our noses, in the heart of Los Angeles

Dr. Brad Vierra to give talk on Ancient Foragers of the Northern Rio Grande. Dr. Brad Vierra, a Principal Investigator and SRI’s director of its Material Studies Program, will give a talk to the Albuquerque Archaeological Society on Tuesday, February 21st , 7:30 pm, at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, located at 2000 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104.

Brad’s talk, entitled Ancient Foragers of the Northern Rio Grande, will discuss current research on the Paleoindian and Archaic archaeology of this Southwestern region. The talk will cover the limited evidence of Paleoindian occupations in the area, long-term changes in Archaic land use, and the origins agriculture. Lastly, a new perspective will be offered that involves the possible integration of foragers into farming communities.

SRI is pleased to announce that Jeffrey H. Altschul has been selected to receive the Victor R. Stoner Award from the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. The Victor R. Stoner Award is given in honor of Reverend Stoner, a strong avocational historian, supporter of the Society and one of the founders of the Society’s peer-reviewed journal, Kiva. The Victor R. Stoner Award is given annually for outstanding contributions in leadership or participation in the Society; fostering historic preservation; or bringing anthropology, history or a related discipline to the public.

Jeff will be honored with the award at the Society’s September meeting in Tucson.

In 2009, Statistical Research, Inc. (SRI); Nexus Heritage; and the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) began what was supposed to be a routine cultural heritage management (CHM) project in the Sabodala region of eastern Senegal. It was anything but. Ours was not the first CHM project in Senegal, but it was the first designed to meet international standards and as such serves as a model for the country. We overcame many obstacles—demonstrating that archaeology existed in the region, that archaeology did not have to be about monuments and world heritage, and that the recent past is just as important, if not more so, to local communities than the far reaches of prehistory. In so doing, we also showed that local lore was vital not just to understanding the past, but essential for maintaining the present, and that local knowledge about farming not only coincided with science, but was key to issues of resettlement and compensation.

The title of the monograph is a play on Rudyard Kipling’s novella, The Man Who Would Be King. Much like Kipling’s Kafiristan, the history of the Upper Senegal River Basin revolves around imperialism, greed, cultural hubris, and the folly of human nature. Echoes of the past live on in Sabodala; gold still attracts powerful outsiders bent on manipulating a social structure built on slavery and exploitation. CHM plays an important role not simply by shining a light on this past, but by providing a process by which local communities engage in decisions about their future.

From the outset, the three project principals committed to publishing the results. We believe strongly that CHM projects are not over when the contract is completed, but that our obligation extends beyond the needs of a gold mine or a bureaucratic regulation to provide our results to our peers, our profession, and the public. We are pleased to see the long road to publication come to an end and invite you to enter the kingdom of Tobri Sidibe, the slave king of Beledougou.

John D. Hall Gives Lecture on Luke Solar Project The Luke Solar Project: Middle and Late Archaic Period Subsistence and Settlement in the Western Phoenix Basin.
In 2009, Luke Air Force Base initiated a plan to build a 107-acre solar-power-array that would provide about 50 percent of the base’s power needs. The location of the solar-power-array on Luke Air Force Base contained several previously recorded archaeological sites. In 2010, Statistical Research, Inc. began testing and data recovery for the Luke Solar Project. The largest archaeological site excavated during this project became known as Falcon Landing. Excavations at Falcon Landing continued through April 2013, uncovering one of the largest Archaic sites known in southern Arizona. Falcon Landing includes over 3,000 features, including thermal pits, house-in-pit structures, fire-cracked rock concentrations, and activity areas. The intensive Archaic occupation of Falcon Landing began around 3300 B.C. and was focused on a nearby seasonal marsh, or mesquite bosque. Archaic people visited this area during the summer months to gather and process mesquite and other wild seed-bearing plants. The mesquite processing techniques, and the accompanying ground stone technology, were established at the beginning of the Middle Archaic period and persisted relatively unchanged until the late prehistoric or early historic period. Although the intensity of occupation at Falcon Landing significantly declined beginning with the Hohokam pre-Classic period, the technology and methods for processing mesquite persisted over 5,000 years. In fact, ethnographic accounts have shown that the mesquite-processing technology identified at Falcon Landing as early as about 3300 B.C. continued to be used by contemporary Native American groups, such as the Piman and Yuman-speaking people of southern Arizona, southern California, and northwestern Mexico.

Please join us! Monday, May 16th at 7:30 pm in the University Medical Center Duval Auditorium (1501 N Campbell Ave, Tucson AZ 85724). Meetings are free and open to the public. For more information please visit the AAHS website: http://www.az-arch-and-hist.org/, or contact John D. Hall at jhall@sricrm.com with questions about this or any other AAHS program.

California’s MAPP Video Now Live! The Society for California Archaeology (SCA) is proud to announce that California’s contribution to the national Making Archaeology Public Project (MAPP) is now live on the national website (http://preservation50.org/). MAPP celebrates the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) 50 years ago. Organizations and communities all over the United States have been planning events and initiatives to celebrate the preservation of places and the educational and cultural benefits that have resulted from compliance with the NHPA. One of these initiatives is MAPP.

The basic idea of MAPP, which is endorsed by the Society for American Archaeology, Society for Historical Archaeology, and the Register of Professional Archaeologists, is that archaeologists within each state have worked together to answer the question: What are the most important insights into life in the past that we have gained from NHPA-mandated archaeology? The end product of MAPP is a series of short videos placed on the website of Preservation 50, the clearinghouse for events nationwide celebrating the NHPA’s 50th anniversary. All of the videos are linked through an interactive map of the United States. Viewers can click on each state to see what we’ve learned.

The California video, produced by the SCA in partnership with Cinnabar Video, looks at the NHPA in California over the last 50 years through the window of obsidian, specifically what hydration and sourcing studies have revealed about changing territorial patterns. In addition, it highlights how the NHPA has brought Native Americans into an active role in archaeological research.

SRI, in collaboration with IFR and the Coconino National Forest, to Teach Field School July 10—August 6, 2016 The major objective of this field school is to prepare students for a career in cultural resource management (CRM) while conducting a typical small-scale CRM inventory and evaluation project. The field school will take place on the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff, Arizona. The area has been home to people for many millennia and has a rich archaeological record that extends from the Paleoindian period (13,000-9,000 BCE) to the Historic period. The region is best known, however, as the homeland of the Northern Sinagua. This prehistoric tradition, centered in the Flagstaff area, was originally defined by Dr. Harold S. Colton of the Museum of Northern Arizona as the Sinagua culture, a cultural entity derived from Mogollon roots and influenced by interaction with other surrounding cultures. Our research goals are to identify and evaluate any prehistoric and historic period resources that can contribute important information regarding past land use and settlement patterns in this area. We will visit major Sinagua sites that have been significant in the development of the Sinagua concept and its major research issues, as well as weekend field trips to nearby National Parks and Monuments containing other well-known Sinagua sites in the region. Learn more.

Huber Appointed to Mason County Historic Preservation Commission SRI’s Ed Huber has been officially appointed to the Mason County Historic Preservation Commission by the County Board of Commissioners. The Historic Preservation Commission's charge is two-fold. First, to assist in the identification of the County's historic resources, both prehistoric and historical-period, and to preserve and monitor effects or changes to those historic resources that are significant and worthy of being protected by listing in County, state, and federal historic property registers and lists. The second is to assist in raising public awareness of the value to the County and to the community of preserving archaeological and historic resources. The Commission and its members serve as the County's primary resource in these matters. The HPC also procures and distributes funds to undertake archaeological and historical studies by issuing competitive solicitations.

Douglass on SAA Board Director of Corporate Research John Douglass began his elected three-year term on the board of directors of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) at the recent annual meeting in San Francisco. John is honored to be elected and help oversee this national archaeology society. In addition to John’s upcoming position on the SAA board of directors, he will continue his positions on the boards of the Register of Professional Archaeologists and Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society.

Vierra on Board Dr. Bradley Vierra has been appointed to the editorial board of the new free access online Journal of Texas Archaeology and History. The journal publishes articles on Texas and the surrounding states including northern Mexico. The Journal also has a Special Publications section which includes articles published by government agencies and significant research organizations. It was established in 2014 and can be found at: jtah.org.

Swope as Editor! On Monday, SRI's Karen Swope was appointed Assistant Co-Editor for Post-Medieval Archaeology! Order it here!

AIA Archaeology FairSRI's Redlands Office cohosted the Second Annual Archaeology Fair in conjunction with the Archaeological Institute of America. The event was held last Saturday and was a great success! Visit our Facebook page for pictures!

Grenda on GAPP SRI's President, Donn Grenda, and Director of Operations, Robert Heckman, attend the Gas and Preservation Partnership Summit in Pittsburgh earlier this year. Grenda sits on GAPP's Board and speaks on GAPP in this short video. Click here to visit the GAPP website and click here to see video!

Redlands Office in Club 125 On May 12, the Statistical Research, Inc building at 21 W. Stuart Ave became a member of Redlands' Club 125. Visit out Facebook page for photos and click here to read more about the building's induction!

Jeff Homburg edits SOIL Dr. Jeffrey Homburg, geoarchaeologist and Principal Investigator at SRI, is now an Associate Editor of SOIL, a new journal within the European Geosciences Union open access publication system. This journal will focus on the role of soil in the Earth System. View the online journal here!

Donn Grenda advocates Redlands historic downtown SRI's President, Donn Grenda makes the front page of the Redlands Daily Facts, along with the Redlands Conservancy, advocating the designation of Redlands' downtown on National Register of Historic Resources. Read the article online.

Online blog summarizes SRI Wetlands publication Western Digs, an online research blog, summarized SRI's publication titled Living in the Ballona Wetlands of Southern California (available for purchase at www.sripress.com). Read the article on Western Digs or download here.

Nexus finds glass cone Kate Page-Smith and Nexus Heritage find a glass cone at Stourbridge. Watch the video and read the article here, or download here. Make sure you check out the video!

Forum on Grand Challenges for Archaeology SRI's Jeffrey Altschul participates in forum on the challenges for archaeology in the years to come. Continue Reading. (*Downloadable articles are available!)